Wednesday, February 11, 2015

WILL SAUDI ARABIA'S PRINCES SCUTTLE TERROR PROBES?

CNN has a problem: one of its hosts, Michael Smerconish, is uncovering evidence about the Saudi role in 9/11. But a CNN analyst, Frances Townsend, has been rubbing elbows with one of the alleged Saudi financiers of al-Qaeda. Perhaps they ought to get together and compare notes.

The strange story begins with Smerconish on his CNN show [1] last Saturday interviewing attorney Sean Carter, who recently took a sworn statement from 9/11’s so-called 20th hijacker, Zacarias Moussaoui.

Convicted terrorist Moussaoui, speaking from behind federal prison walls, had told Carter and other attorneys suing Saudi Arabia over its role in 9/11 that three major Saudi figures, Prince Alwaleed bin Talal, Prince Bandar bin Sultan and Prince Turki al-Faisal, were on a list of donors to al-Qaeda prior to 9/11. The Saudi regime flatly denied the allegations and dismissed Moussaoui as a lunatic.

Alwaleed stands out as the Saudi on the list who could most be affected by the disclosure. He is the largest individual foreign investor in the United States, with investments in 21st Century Fox, the parent company of Fox News; TimeWarner, the parent company of CNN; Citigroup; Twitter; and Apple. He has close personal relationships with corporate America’s CEOs, including, and especially, Rupert Murdoch.

And I honestly think Murdoch's doing everybody a disfavor by associating himself with that awful man. In fact, one could argue Murdoch could be embarrassed by proxy if he continues his relationship, which was ill-advised from the start. That told, bin Talal doesn't deserve to invest in USA business if he's donating to terrorists. In fact, what if the money he makes overseas ever goes to jihadists? What if any Islamist doing business deals like his does so? That's exactly why western companies should not be making faustian pacts with these Saudi bigwigs.

Will CNN quash any investigative research? Let's hope not. But, based on Murdoch's associations, you can guess why Fox may not have published any.